[deleted_user_12]

ok if you thought my other posts where mainly about tank issues this one tops it all, this is a pretty lengthy story so please bear with me and help.
so about four years ago my parents buy a wall mounted two inch wide fishtank for the library, even when i was a kid i suspected it was odd the whole idea ofa tank only two inches wide. so about eight months in my parents buy a ton of fish that dont go together and cram them in theis thin 7g tank. i was only eleven and havent yet started my planted tank obsecsion and am unaware that what my parents are doing is pure torture. so about a month later there are only four fish left and later three. now these three fish have lived for about three years and are still around, they are some type of rasorba i think harlequin, but the tank is the worst thing i have everseen. now since ive started my 20g tank and 7g tank and have been commiting numerous hours to keeping these two tank in perfect condition. this wall mount tank has fish waste all the way down, it is every were i tried to grav vac and i removed brown waterfrom the tank, i then realizedwhat i ws removing wasnt even the wast from the gravel but the regular water. its heater air pump and filter are crusted over in waste, i really want to take this tank down rip it to peices cleaning it miticuously. but the company that brought it heare specially installed it and it is near impossible to take down i feel so bad for these fish it most be pure torture. what do i do this situation sucks and my parents dont seem to car or want to do anything about it. please help i know its a lengthy read and im sorry this is a huge question.

 

[vespers_]

imo you should tell them how you feel and just empty it. i assume you can access it to clean it, so remove the fish and empty the tank.

 

[deleted_user_12]

yeah i want to but im gonna have to get them onboard with the whole new heater filter thing and then carfully take that ugly tank down.

 

[jreich]

yeah i want to but im gonna have to get them onboard with the whole new heater filter thing and then carfully take that ugly tank down.

that stuff can be cleaned, you would be amazed @ how clean a little elbow grease and some vinager will get ya.

 

[DaveK]

Yes, a tank like that can be torn down and cleaned, but even if you do that, it's still got the same issues.

My first choice would be to tear it down and put the fish in a new home, and replace it's place on the wall with a nice picture.

My second choice if it had to be setup again would be to put the fish in a new home, and just put some plastic plants and fish in it.

If I had to retain the existing fish, I'd do it, but as you know it's far from ideal.

 

[jreich]

you could allways do some very small fish and or crs/rcs.

 

[koebwil]

it sounds like he has harlequin rasboras, which are extremely small. How long is the tank, if it has enough gas exchange area you could put a dwarf puffer in there, but it sounds like the problem is your parents are not maintaining the tank at all. Anything you do would be entirely pointless if they don't maintain it. I think a tank like this could be pretty cool, but if it isn't maintained it will never be cool.

 

[DarkCobra]

It may not be as torturous for the remaining fish as you think.

I've seen some strange things in this hobby. One of the strangest was a 10G tank. 3G of it was filled with fish waste. No aeration or filtration. Never got cleaned. Never got water changes, only top-offs with unconditioned tapwater. The owner threw in a handful (!) of flake food twice a week. It was packed with what I estimate to be about 50 adult guppies, seemingly in good health, and many more fry and juveniles.

Insane. But I didn't say a word of advice to the owner.

Because those fish had somehow slowly adapted to that terrible environment. Cleaning the tank, disturbing it in any way, or moving any of those fish to another tank with clean water, would almost certainly kill them.

I've tried rescuing fish from similar tanks in the past, thinking I was doing a good thing. Even with lengthy drip acclimations, I've lost every one. Clean water was just too much of a shock.

So be prepared for the possibility you will lose these fish if you try to move them to another tank, or attempt a thorough cleaning.

If I wanted to save those fish, I'd clean the tank a bit a time over weeks, letting the fish slowly adapt to the better conditions. Then move them to a real tank. Get rid of that wall-mounted thing, or leave it empty and cover it with a tapestry or something. It sounds too hard to ever maintain properly.

By no means add any new fish to that tank in its current condition.

 

[astrosag]

Why not take those fish out and try to make that a planted tank only. Perhaps put in micro Rasboras instead - they need much less space to thrive ...check out Chili Rasboras.

If possible, I'd convert that little 7G into a planted tank...it would probably look even better and with a few micro rasboras, you wouldn't be ethically challenged in keeping it.

Remember, water changes and most maintenance has to do with keeping the fish alive and well - not the plants. If this were to be a 100% planted tank with 0 fish (or a small number of small fish), then you can get away with less maintenance - something that seems difficult to do with this tank from what I'm reading from you. Though, picturing it in my head, I would think a brightly lit, high-tech set-up would look best. If that's the case then don't have any fish! Small planted tanks are interesting all by themselves!